In a groundbreaking move for Chicago television, one local station is going to produce a newscast for another local station. ABC-owned WLS-TV (ABC 7) announced it has entered a partnership with Weigel Broadcasting’s WCIU to produce a new hour-long 7 p.m. weeknight newscast effective January 12, 2015. Anchoring the program is ABC 7 morning veteran Hosea Sanders, who is teaming […]
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional information since being published on Saturday. – T.H. It’s the end of an era as the last “superstation” rides off into the sunset. By the end of this month, WGN America – which once carried WGN-TV programming across the country, is converting into a basic cable network in most areas […]
ABC-owned station to run 25 games a season from 2015 through 2019 “Catch the action on WLS”… That’s right, you heard me… ABC-owned WLS-TV (that’s TV, not AM) struck a five-year deal with the Chicago Cubs to air 25 games a season beginning this spring. According to the station’s website, WLS would air games in daytime, primetime, and weekend […]
In an unusual move, at least in this day and age, freshman first-run strip Hot Bench is changing stations locally in the middle of the season. As part of a CBS O&O deal, Hot Bench – syndicated by co-owned CBS Television Distribution – is shifting to WBBM-Ch.2 where it will air weekdays at 2 p.m effective as of March […]
There isn’t really much to talk about in the recently-concluded November sweeps period, since two of Chicago’s most dominant news operations – ABC-owned WLS-TV and Tribune CW affiliate WGN-TV continue to roll along. While sweeps periods are less important to the networks these days – for one, low-rated lame-duck shows (such as Mulaney, Bad Judge, and A to Z) are […]
The recent confrontation between WLS-AM host Bruce Wolf and African-American traffic reporter Kelli Walker just goes to show you what a complete embarrassment Chicago radio is, and the media industry is in general. In case you haven’t heard (and that’s most of you), Walker “threw some shade” at Wolf on the morning of November 18 over the issue of racism on the air […]
Gobble, gobble everyone! It’s that time of year… to celebrate (and criticize) the worst in media. It’s the 2014 T Dog Media Turkey Awards. If you’ve noticed, the first eleven items are all local, and makes up a third of the list. Just goes to show you the power of The Chicago Way. The sad part is, the Jackie Robinson West […]
At least Jimmy DeCastro didn’t screw this up. But it wouldn’t have mattered: Sony Pictures Television has canceled The Queen Latifah Show after two seasons, marking the second time she struck with with a daytime talker (the last time was in 2001, when Warner Bros. dropped her similarly-titled show after two seasons.) The program will continue in […]
The sophomore season’s surprise cancellation leaves the sitcom genre in a tailspin In a surprise move, CBS on Friday canceled The Millers just five episodes into its second season. The multi-cam comedy, which had The Big Bang Theory as a lead-in on Thursday night last season, recently made a disastrous move to Monday. Replacing The Millers in its Monday time […]
Also: Tom Joyner’s Dallas station changes formats Per Robert Feder, Ramonski Luv (a.k.a. Ramon Wade) is back with a new radio gig in Chicago – this time at WVAZ’s (V103) main rival. Wade has signed on with Crawford Broadcasting’s WSRB-FM (Soul 106.3) to be their new evening personality, effective December 3. Wade’s show is scheduled to air every weeknight from […]
Also: Walking Dead, Simpsons, Real Housewives are night’s ratings winners This is likely the last Bears TV ratings report you will see this season (hold your applause) because reporting on them – and writing about the team itself – is no longer interesting. But given the way the Bears have been playing, the butt-whopping the Green Bay Packers put on […]
Twin Cities’ KSTP makes gaffe, but has nothing on CBS 2’s history of making them If there’s any doubt local news is sometimes a joke, this item should cement the fact. Hubbard-owned Minneapolis-St.Paul ABC affiliate KSTP, a once-proud beacon of journalism, is involved in “pointergate”: a photo of Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges was shown in a photo joyfully exchanging pointing fingers […]
Election results means a tougher road ahead for FCC Just like what the Republicans did to the Democrats Tuesday night, both ABC-owned WLS-TV and Tribune Broadcasting’s WGN-TV steamrolled the competition. The mid-term elections saw Illinois elect a Republican governor for the first time since 1998 – venture capitalist Bruce Rauner (the man whose GTCR investment firm financed Randy Michaels’ Merlin […]
Wallenda’s stunt over Chicago skyline draws viewers Biggest draw for Discovery since 2010 – or is it? As far as we know, there was no trickery involved in Nik Wallenda’s wire-walking stunt, which he successfully walked from Marina City to the Leo Burnett Building and between the Marina City towers themselves, high above the air with no net or no […]
We’ll find out for sure soon enough as one of Chicago’s radio legends returns to the airwaves Monday for the first time in five years. The last time Steve Dahl was regularly employed at WLS-AM, the artists the station had in rotation were Whitney Houston, Tears For Fears, Mr. Mister, Prince, and Pat Benetar. The Cosby Show was the top-rated […]
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